Lot 771. A South German turned ivory cup and cover, probably Nuremberg, first half 17th century; height 21 3/8 in., 54.3 cm. Estimate 150,000 — 250,000 USD. Lot sold 434,500 USD. Photo Sotheby's 2011

a recessed circular disc of fine foliate and scrolling openwork beneath the foot, the wavy stepped octagonal base below two rings of upturned foliate points, the double baluster-form stem with vertical gadrooning intersecting with wavy horizontal bands, the top of the stem with a ring of downturned foliate points and another foliate ring supporting the underside of the cup, of bulbous square section with chamfered corners, in three vertical registers; the conforming cover crowned by an entablature with open strapwork frieze, a ring of thin openwork petals supporting a reeded knop surmounted by a delicate tapering spiral. 

The design of this fine, thinly turned ivory goblet relates to a comparable piece from the Danish Royal Kunstkammer at Rosenborg castle in Copenhagen, first recorded there in the inventory of 1674 (Gundestrup 1991, pp. 262-263, DKK 23.81). Another cup with rings of similarly bulbous pierced foliate points above and below the stem, a stepped lobed foot is in the Museo degli Argenti in Florence (Maurice 1985, p. 70, no. 69, see lot 774 for illustration). The general sihouette of the cup, as well as details such as the aforementioned foliate points, recall the signed works of Marcus Heiden turned in the second quarter of the 17th century and now preserved in Copenhagen and Florence.

Reminiscent of Baroque silver cups produced in Nuremberg beginning in the early 17th century, the ambitious form breaks free from the constraints of function, incorporating bold, elegant geometric forms.

Sotheby's. Property from the Collections of Lily & Edmond J. Safra - Volumes I-VI. New York, 18 Oct 2011